"Between 1979 and 2012, the top 5 percent of American families saw their real incomes increase 74.9 percent, according to Census data. Over the same period, the lowest-income fifth saw a decrease in real income of 12.1 percent. This sharply contrasts with the 1947-79 period, when all income groups saw similar income gains, with the lowest income group actually seeing the largest gains." After world war 2 income from the lower class started to rise more than the upper class making the gap between upper and middle class lower as income averaged out. However around the 1970s the upper class's income has started to increase more than the lower class's income leaving a wider income gap.

"The tabulations from the Fed's data indicate that the upper-income families have begun to regain some of the wealth they lost during the Great Recession, while middle-income families haven't seen any gains. The median wealth among upper-income families increased from $595,300 in 2010 to $639,400 in 2013 (all dollar amounts in 2013 dollars). The typical wealth of middle-income families was basically unchanged in 2013 - it remained at about $96,500 over the same period." The gap between middle income and upper income is at record high levels. The projected increase for the upper class is also projected to increase whereas the middle and lower class is not projected to increase nearly as much.